When we talk about FIBA competitions, Pau Gasol has to be mentioned among the very first. The two-time NBA champ with the Los Angeles Lakers is arguably the greatest player in FIBA history because of his dominance with Spain, which lasted for over twenty years.
His resume consists of a gold medal at the FIBA World Cup, two silvers and a bronze at the Olympics and three golds, two silvers and two bronzes at the EuroBasket. When it comes to medals, nobody is even close, and it's also worth noting that he is a two-time EuroBasket MVP and a FIBA World Cup MVP.
From a player who had never been a proper superstar in the NBA, he turned into one of the best in the world when playing for Spain.
"To me, I always took a lot of pride in playing for Spain. A lot of people said that there was a different Pau playing for Spain and playing in the NBA. I think there was definitely an added thing to it."
"There was definitely a little extra edge when I played for Spain. There was a unique thing that I would bring to the equation. Not that I didn't love to play for every and each NBA team I played for, but playing for your country is something it's hard to compare," Gasol said on the NBA on ESPN show.
It's enough to just remember the two epic Olympic finals in 2008 and 2012 when they pushed Team USA to the brink, but also clearly sent the message that the rest of the world is catching up.
Gasol turned into a beast whenever he put on the Spanish jersey and who went head-to-head against the best in the world. Indeed, he had the potential to be the go-to guy on most NBA teams, just like he did early on in his career in Memphis.
Still, everyone knows that the Lakers would not have won two Larry O'Brien Trophies in the post-Shaquille O'Neal era if it wasn't for the older Gasol brother. That's best confirmed by the words of Dwyane Wade, who said Gasol deserved to win the 2010 NBA Finals MVP award over Kobe Bryant .
"A lot of people don't know that in that Finals, that last Finals that they won, Kobe didn't play well. Kobe didn't shoot the ball well. Actually, everybody thought Pau Gasol should have been MVP. That's how well Pau was playing, and Kobe was playing awful," Wade exclaimed.
Gasol was one of the league's best centers during his prime, and the fact that he accepted a smaller role to win titles says enough about his elite mentality. After all, his basketball idol Toni Kukoc had a similar trajectory – dominating FIBA competitions, but once he came to the league, he accepted a less significant role to win NBA titles.
This story was originally reported by Basketball Network on Sep 18, 2025, where it first appeared in the International section. Add Basketball Network as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
